Dead Cert

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

As a surprise, two horse owners decide to ride their animals in a steeplechase. But Bill Davidson's (Ian Hogg's) horse "Admiral" behaves weirdly, and falls hard after an obstacle. Bill dies ... Read allAs a surprise, two horse owners decide to ride their animals in a steeplechase. But Bill Davidson's (Ian Hogg's) horse "Admiral" behaves weirdly, and falls hard after an obstacle. Bill dies from his injuries. His friend Alan York (Scott Antony) suspects the animal was doped by un... Read allAs a surprise, two horse owners decide to ride their animals in a steeplechase. But Bill Davidson's (Ian Hogg's) horse "Admiral" behaves weirdly, and falls hard after an obstacle. Bill dies from his injuries. His friend Alan York (Scott Antony) suspects the animal was doped by unscrupulous bookies and starts to investigate. He doesn't know how serious his opponents ar... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

4.9/10

246

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos2

User reviews6

4.9246

Featured reviews

1blakedw

This film is a real mess

This film is sort of, kind of maybe based on the Dick Francis book of the same name. But only the name has not been changed presumably to protect the guilty. It's a pity because book plot was fairly filmable whereas the mess served up here by Tony Richardson is not. I have been surprised for many years that the Francis books have not all been put on film or tv. Maybe this rubbish put people off trying.

tc_nafsasp

Go-Pontinental

Interesting film, however this is less a review more a footnote. One of the horses involved was well known to racing enthusiasts of the day, Go-Pontinental, owned by Fred Pontin, who ran in the '68 National as a fancied horse, missed out the next 4 Nationals, returning as a 13 year old in '73, and a 14 year old in '74, by which time he was the proverbial 100-1 rank outsider. Timeform shortly after the '74 National rated him "of no note whatsoever".

1hhartling

Wretched

At our house we're big fans of Dick Francis novels. "Dead Cert" was this champion jockey's first thriller. I bought this DVD a couple of years ago and we had great expectations. We were hugely disappointed in the way the story was adapted. I am re-reading the novel so I thought it would be fun to try the movie again. Well, it has not improved with age. The only saving grace is you get some idea (or at least Tony Richardson's idea) of what a British racetrack is like. The characters in the movie share some of the same names as the characters in the novel but hardly any of the same traits. There isn't a soul in this movie you would want to know personally (I am talking about the characters not the actors), except perhaps the horses.

6tarbosh22000

A Well-Made British film... but with one flaw.

"Dead Cert" is a well-made British mystery. The plot is about Alan York (Scott Antony) who is a jockey. When his friend dies after a race, Alan takes it upon himself to figure out what happened. He uncovers corruption in the horse riding industry and the police force.

The next part of the review does contain spoilers!!!

"Dead Cert" has good acting and directing, but the ending is flawed and weird. At the end, Alan and Sandy (Michael Williams) are racing their horses. They're right next each other and Sandy starts whipping Alan with his racing stick. Then Alan, whips back and makes Sandy fall on a sharp railing, and he dies. Alan wins the race but no one ever mentions that Sandy is dead. I thought that hurt the film a lot.

If you can get past the odd ending, it's a decent film.

For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
In 1970, William Friedkin and his The French Connection (1971) producer, Philip D'Antoni, announced that they had bought the rights to all of the Dick Francis novels, but nothing ever went into production under their banner.

Goofs
Dangerous pointed railings would never line the sides of a horse racing track - in fact the normal type of guard rails are shown throughout most of the movie.